The Google Home app just got a major overhaul with Gemini built in

What you need to know

• The new Home app is faster, loading up to 70% quicker and fixing long-standing bugs.
• Nest devices are now fully integrated in the Google Home app, creating a single hub for Home and Nest products.
• The new Home app has three tabs: Home, Activity, and Automations, with swipe gestures for quicker navigation.
• The standout Ask Home feature lets users create automations, find recordings, and control multiple devices with ease.

After teasing it alongside the Pixel 10 series launch and again last month, Google has officially announced that Gemini is finally here for Google Home. Along with introducing AI to its smart home ecosystem, Google has also unveiled a completely redesigned Google Home app for Android and iOS, bringing several meaningful changes and useful features.

Google says it rebuilt the Home app with three main goals in mind: to make it "faster, more reliable, and complete." The company explained that to integrate Gemini into the Home app, the app first needed to feel faster and more dependable — something the old version had been lacking for a long time.

According to Google, the new Home app is now "significantly faster," loading up to 70% quicker on some Android devices. The company says it has fixed many long-standing bugs, while features like Live Views in the camera section now load 30% faster with a 40% drop in playback failures. With this update, Google claims the app should feel much more "resilient and responsive."

In addition to speed and stability, Google says the new "foundation" allowed it to integrate Nest devices directly into the Home app, creating a unified hub for both Google Home and Nest products. The app now supports all core Nest devices, including every Nest Thermostat since 2015, as well as older Nest cams and doorbells.

Gemini is also now built directly into the new Google Home app. The interface has been simplified into three tabs: Home, Activity, and Automations. The Home tab still lets you access all of your devices, but new swipe gestures make it easier to move between Favorites, all devices, and dashboards.

The Activity tab is where Gemini integration really shines. It provides a canonical history of everything happening in your home across both first- and third-party devices. It also introduces a new feature called "Home Brief," which gives you a quick daily summary of things with your smart home devices. However, Home Brief requires a Google Home Premium subscription.

The Automations tab shows upcoming automations linked to your devices, while the company has also given the automation editor much-needed improvements. You can now simply tap the "Help me create" button in the editor section and type what you want, and Gemini will automatically generate the automation for you.

Google Home app with Gemini is now rolling out

Other new features in the app include double-tap gestures in camera views to fast-forward or rewind, just like in YouTube. Gemini also adds more context to alerts, so instead of generic notifications like "person detected," it can provide details such as "Robin walking with flowers."

The most important addition, though, is the new Ask Home feature, accessible from the app's persistent header navigation. Ask Home is everything you expect the Gemini integration to be. It can help you perform as simple tasks as finding specific devices, but it can also help with other complex tasks like creating automations, locating a specific video recording, or even controlling multiple devices at once.

The new Google Home app is rolling out starting today (Oct. 1) and should reach your device soon. Alongside the revamped app, Google also announced a lineup of new smart home devices to expand the ecosystem.